Beyond the Waves (Pacific Shores Book 1) Read Online Free

floor.
    “What was that?” Kylen exclaimed.
    Great! Taysia winced and grunted in pain, clutching her hand. The cart began a full-blown jitterbug, and she reached for the solid steadiness of the door just as it jerked open.
    “Oh!”
    Kylen, Marie right behind him, stared wide-eyed, jaw slack.
    Flapping her arms desperately trying to regain her balance, Taysia searched frantically for anything to grab onto but the broad expanse of Kylen’s shoulders. She lurched for the lintel, but as her weight pitched forward, the cart jostled backward and her hands missed the mark.
    “Ah!”
    Her shins scraped painfully across the top of the mop bucket, and she landed like a gangly giraffe in Kylen’s arms. He grunted and stepped back into Marie, who squawked like a startled duck. All three of them landed in a tangled sandwich on the floor.
    The mop fell out of the bucket and thonk ed Taysia on the head with a resounding crack. “Ow!”
    Kylen rolled up onto one elbow, kicking away the mop and pushing Taysia over onto her back. “Are you okay?”
    Taysia nodded with gritted teeth, refusing to let the groan trapped in her throat escape. Her right shin felt like a cat had mistaken it for a scratching post. A big cat!
    Behind Kylen, Marie snipped, “I’m fine, Officer. Don’t you worry about me, now. You’re just lying on my legs !”
    Kylen’s eyes widened and he scrambled to his feet. “Sorry, Marie. Here.” He reached down to help her up.
    Taysia took advantage of his distraction to hobble to her feet. Blood dripped down her right leg. It was her own fault. How did she get herself into these situations? She bent to examine the wound.
    “Taysia Layne Green, you are the craziest woman I’ve ever met!”
    Taysia didn’t reply. What was there to say? Kylen and her blithering-idiot alter ego had been well acquainted from the day his parents had moved in next door. She sighed and limped toward her office to find a Band-Aid. Or ten.
    Kylen started to follow, and she stopped dead in her tracks. “Don’t!” She couldn’t look him in the eye. “Just…” She gestured him toward the outside doors and promptly turned in the direction of her office. As she hobbled down the hall, her mind skimmed back over the years to a long-ago day just before her freshman year…
    It had been a beautiful, sunny day when she noticed the new family moving in next door.
    Taysia had walked down her drive until she stood beneath the shade of the old weeping willow tree. She decided to stretch out before her run under its sheltering branches so she could openly watch the new neighbors as they unpacked their moving van. The hanging boughs obscured her nosy gawking a little, as did her sunglasses.
    Leaning one arm against the trunk, she pulled one foot up toward her bottom, stretching out her right quad. She balanced precariously for a moment to push her sunglasses up on her nose.
    Hmmm, they have some nice things, these people. Must have money. Why, that sideboard alone costs more than all the furniture in our house put together . That would explain why they were moving into the old Johnston mansion next door.
    Taysia glanced back down the drive at their own house—a little two-bedroom that Mom had painted a very soft blue. They had eaten hot dogs and chili for months afterward because the painter had charged them an outlandish amount, but it had been worth it. Mom loved the way the blue set off the exquisite red of her prized rosebushes. Taysia smiled. She liked it too. They had a nice home, even though it was small. She looked again to the newcomers as she stretched out her left quad. Her parents’ house was very small, indeed, compared to the place next door. In fact, in a bygone era, the little blue house—and the roses—had belonged to the gardener of the Johnston mansion.
    Yes, whoever was moving into the mansion had plenty of money. Besides the movers there was a man and his wife, but no kids.
    She sighed. It had been too much to hope for.